"Stars!" Computer game

http://www.webmap.com/stars/

anyone have opinions on this?

> At 08:14 PM 8/24/99 -0400, you wrote:

Stars! Is a really great game, though if you get involved in a serious PBEM
game that generates every day (as I have in the past) expect a bit of a hit
on your social life. ^_^;;  It's a lot of fun... though, actually, these
days you almost might as well wait for Supernova! to come out, as it looks
pretty good (if possibly overcomplicated, dunno). But if you can get the most
recent version cheap and find a game... go for it, it's fun!

Starship-wise, though, you don't get to control the battles very
efficiently (be wary of what orders your ships are on...) and ship design,
tech level and numbers rule the battlefield. There are numerous dissertations
you can find all over the web on every topic conceivable, though the best
(IMO) are written by Jason Cawley.

Later,

> anyone have opinions on this?

Really tedious, if you're into mico-management its the game for you.
I'm not 3/10.

> On 24-Aug-99 at 20:33, Laserlight (laserlight@cwix.com) wrote:

It can be a fun game, but realize that with great flexability
comes massive micro-management.  Of course, since you are making
a turn a week you have room for a bit of micromanagement. Don't let anyone
else tell yout though, download the thing and give it a shot. You can play
single user, not nearly as much fun as a net game, but still pretty fun.

> http://www.webmap.com/stars/
Stars! is a very fun game, especially when done PBEM. There is some complexity
to the game, and some management required, but you ARE supposed to be setting
up your Star Empire to rule the galaxy, so this is as it should be.

A similar game that I like just as much is called Space Empires III. You can
find info on it here:
http://www.crl.com/~malfador/se3.html

Overall I like SEIII better than Stars!, except when playing multiplayer.
Stars! turns are generated and processed simultaneously. SEIII turns are
done sequentially - so I would do my turn, then send the file to my
opponent and he would do his turn, then he would send it to the next player,
and so on. This makes the game move slower, and if someone breaks the chain,
then you're screwed.

Still, SEIII gives you much more control over tech increases, planetary
production, ship design, and diplomacy than Stars!. Also, Space Empires IV is
supposed to feature simultaneous turns, so it should be a great deal better.